


Just gonna tell the truth

by snuckybarnes



Series: Talk [1]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Mid-Canon, discussions of past relationships, set during episode 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 03:59:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11073621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snuckybarnes/pseuds/snuckybarnes
Summary: Jack rolls his eyes. "Don't be so suspicious, pumpkin, we're a team, remember? And I'm asking 'cause we're about to go back to Helios, and it struck me that I really don't know that much about you. I mean, aside from the fact that you're my biggest fan, of course.""I'm not your- So you figure my ex is the best place to start?""Well, it's the info you gave me, isn't it? And an ex can say a lot about a person. So spill."___On the way back from retrieving Vasquez's face, Jack asks Rhys about his ex-girlfriends.





	Just gonna tell the truth

**Author's Note:**

> MAJOR UPDATE so I'll put it at the top: If you want, you can still read this as a stand-alone. But if you want to read the longer work, skip ahead to the next part of the series. It starts with this fic, though it's rewritten. If you wanna read the longer fic, I'd recommend reading the first chapter there instead of this fic, since it has some changed details.
> 
> It's been ages since I wrote a fanfic and I've definitely not done anything on Borderlands before, but after playing Tales these two kind of got stuck in my head. It started as a short drabble, but these idiots just kept on talking, and here we are. I might continue this timeline in the future, we'll see. For now, behold the product of my procrastination.

"So... Stacey, huh?"

Rhys lets out an undignified yelp as the familiar hologram flickers into view. He should have learned to anticipate whenever Jack is about to show up by now, but it still manages to catch him by surprise.

"Wha- what?" he says, clearing his throat.

Jack leans back against the empty air behind him while the Pandoran landscape flashes by. Rhys is honestly a bit grateful that he's tied to the side of the vehicle; at least this way he won't risk falling off.

"Stacey!" Jack throws his arms out in front of him, as if everything should be clear by now. "Y'know? Stacey? The ex-girlfriend you mentioned?"

Rhys narrows his eyes. "What about her? Wait. You were listening? I was just talking to myself."

"I'm in your _head_ , dum-dum. I'm always feakin' listening."

"Right." If it hadn't been for the ropes around his arms, Rhys would have dragged his fingers through his hair.

"So? What happened with her?" Jack asks. "I mean, no offense, but you're not the most violent guy out there. If you're happy to see her likeness as a psycho-made skin-pizza she must have done something pretty bad. Right?"

"Right," Rhys says slowly, then shakes his head. "Wait, why are you asking about this?"

Jack rolls his eyes. "Don't be so suspicious, pumpkin, we're a team, remember? And I'm asking 'cause we're about to go back to Helios, which is _my_ space station in case you forgot, and we'll go to _my_ office, and it struck me that I really don't know that much about you. I mean, aside from the fact that you're my biggest fan, of course."

"I'm not your- So you figure my _ex_ is the best place to start?"

"Well, it's the info you gave me, isn't it? And an ex can say a lot about a person. So spill." Jack's hologram flickers again and he's on his stomach now, head propped up in his hands and his legs slowly moving back and forth. Honestly? He looks ridiculous.

"Fine," Rhys decides, wishing he could cross his arms. "We were together in college, until she cheated on me with a guy I already hated, and they tried to make me lose my scholarship."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Oh, come on! Don't tell me you let them get away with that! Did you kill them? I would have killed them." Jack averts his gaze, with that dreamy look on his face he sometimes gets when thinking about revenge and killing people.

"I didn't kill them," Rhys clarifies, and Jack looks a bit disappointed, "but I did get back at them."

Jack lights up and then looks confused, apparently not able to come up with any ways to get revenge at someone without killing them. The hologram disappears for a split second before he reappears again, now sitting up. "How?"

This isn't something Rhys has told anyone, not even Vaughn. He was always worried it would get out somehow, and then he'd be kicked out of college. And after they graduated, it never came up again. But... This is Handsome Jack. He won't even think it something worth reporting. And it's not like he can talk to anyone other than Rhys about it even if he wanted to. Not to mention the fanboy in Rhys is kind of ecstatic to have Jack ask him to tell him about himself.

"Alright, like I said, it was back in college. I'd just, uh, It was after my accident. And I'd just gotten these bad boys here." He nods towards his right shoulder. Gesturing at his eye isn't really an option right now, but he figures Jack will get the point. "Anyway. We'd been together for a few months, but then I had the accident and I guess cyborg Rhys wasn't really what she wanted. I mean, she didn't say anything, but she, uh... Well, I noticed."

"Waitwaitwait," Jack interrupts, and when Rhys looks up at him he sees that he's frowning. "She ditched you 'cause of your cybernetics? Come on, that doesn't make any sense. That's high quality Hyperion tech right there, she should have been awestruck, not- not dumping your ass."

"Well, she wasn't, alright?" Rhys tells him, looking away again. "And she didn't dump me."

"No?" Jack's usual confident grin finds its way back to his face. "Well this I gotta hear, princess. Go on."

Rhys nods. "After the accident and the surgery, we hadn't really..."

"Banged."

Rhys glares at Jack, letting out a frustrated sigh before shaking his head. "...been with each other. For a while. And I was walking around campus when I see her in sitting in the lap of this guy Hector. Who I kind of had a bunch of, uh, disagreements with already. And they're pretty heavy on the PDA."

It's funny. The memory shouldn't stir up emotions the way it is, but Rhys can't help it. Stacey was the first person he loved, or thought he loved, and seeing her like that... Well it hurt. He risks a glance at Jack, and is surprised to find that he looks... almost concerned. Now that's unsettling. "Anyway," he continues, "I walked up to them, asked her what the hell she was doing. She kinda tried to deny it, but I mean, the guy had her lipstick all over his face so it didn't really work out for her."

"Ah. Classic," Jack chuckles.

"Right. So I, heh, I kinda started yelling at her. Accusing her of... stuff." Rhys turned up his emotions to eleven, figuring he might as well put his skills from drama class to use. He was hurt, he will never deny that, but he made sure to give a performance as well. "Everyone who heard me took my side, and her cheating on me right after my accident? Didn't really do wonders for her reputation. I even got some applause when I told her we were over."

In front of him, Jack crosses his arms. "Look, don't get me wrong here. That's nice and all, Rhysie, but it's... kinda boring? Please tell me there's more to it."

"Well, a week or so later, I'm in my dorm and I'm kind of messing with around with my systems, still trying to figure out what they can be used for-"

"Oh yeah?" Jack interrupts, raising his eyebrows. "Come up with any nice ideas?"

"Oh, come on, I'm trying to tell you the story here!" Rhys groans, throwing his head back, realizing too late that he's still bound to the outside of a car. "Fuck," he hisses, squeezing his eyes shut. That's gonna bruise.

He looks up again, ready to continue talking, and realizes that Jack is gone. "Great. Fantastic," he mutters. Seems like he will have to spend the rest of the ride alone.

"Y'know, pumpkin, if you want me to leave you can just say so. No need to hurt yourself."

Rhys yelps again as he looks up to find Jack sitting next to him this time, close enough that they would almost have touched, had Jack still been human.

"You were saying something about your cybernetics?" He gives Rhys' right arm a look.

Rhys blinks a few times before he once again turns his thoughts to his memories. "Yeah. I was testing out the scanner, and that's when I found a bunch of drugs hidden under my mattress. That weren't mine," he added. He might not be the type to get high, but he wouldn't be surprised if Jack used to be. "So I hacked the camera in the hallway, and saw Stacey going into my room earlier that day. She knew I was only in college thanks to my scholarship, and that if anyone found those drugs in my possession I'd be out faster than I could blink. There was a routine dorm check-up scheduled the next day."

Jack snorts. "What a bitch. Like I said, I'd have killed her. But you didn't?"

"No. I placed the drugs in her dorm instead and fixed the security footage. And I manipulated a couple of files so that she looked... a little more troublesome than she was. She had no scholarship to lose, but she did get expelled. I never saw her again after that."

In the corner of his eye, he could see Jack shrug. "I have to give it to you, Rhysie, that's almost creative. Makes me a little proud of you. What about the others?"

Rhys frowns. "The others?"

"Your other ex-girlfriends, cupcake. Come on, looker like you can't just have had the one."

Despite himself, Rhys feels his cheeks heat up a bit at being complimented. This is Handsome Jack, after all. "Why are you so interested anyway?" he asks, dodging the question.

"I told you. I wanna get to know you."

"But _why_?"

"What else is there to do? In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a freakin' hologram, Rhys. I can't- I can't kill anyone, can't do anything, I can't- The only thing I can do is talk to you. So as depressing as that may seem, be a good kid and humor Handsome Jack for a bit, okay?" There's a tightness to Jack's voice that Rhys can't seem to define, but he decides to let it be for now. Though he does worry a little that there's something wrong with Jack, seeing as this has to be the longest he's ever let anyone else talk without making it about himself.

"Fine," he sighs. "But it's not a long list, alright? And Stacey is the only revenge story I got, so you'll probably be bored soon anyway."

"Look, no offense kiddo, but I'd rather be bored out here than in the back of that head of yours." Always such a charmer.

Rhys leans his head back against the metal of the vehicle, carefully this time. He's decided that the sky is the most peaceful part of Pandora. At least when it's not filled with rakks that want to eat you or whatever it is that they do. Rhys hasn't bothered to stop and ask. He looks up at Elpis, and Helios in front of it. It's still strange to see it from this point of view. He nods towards the station. "I dated a woman named Jennifer for a while, a few years after I started working for Hyperion."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Met her in the cafeteria. We even moved in together, but it wasn't meant to be, in the end."

"Did she cheat on you too?" Jack teases.

"No."

"Did... you cheat on her?" Rhys can picture Jack's narrowed eyes without having to look at him.

"Nope. Not really my style, Jack."

"Did she die? Wait, she was Hyperion, I didn't kill her, right? 'Cause that'd be-"

"She's not dead, Jack." Rhys turns his head to look at him. For a while, Jack seems almost... concerned. "We just broke up."

Jack snorts. "Wow, that's boring." Why did Rhys ever think he looked concerned? Handsome Jack doesn't do concerned. Jack snorts. "What about the others? Not all of your ex-girlfriends can have been that dull. Please."

Rhys shrugs. "That's all of them."

Jack bursts out laughing. A second later he's standing up, one hand pressed against an invisible wall, the other smacking his knee. "I- I- I have to give it to you, Rhys. You can be fuckin' _hilarious_ when you want to," he wheezes. He laughs a bit more, then he lets out a long sigh, his hologram shape flickering back to sitting next to Rhys.

"I'm not joking, Jack." Rhys raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. Wow, this guy can be an asshole when he wants to. Which is to say, all the time.

"You're not?" Jack asks in disbelief. "You've only been in two relationships? I mean, come on, how old are you, kiddo? That's- Just _two_?"

"I didn't say that. But I mean, you did specifically ask for ex-girlfriends, and I only have two of those."

Jack lets out a relieved sigh, leaning back against the metal behind them. "Oh, alright. Shit, babe, you had me there for a second. You're a real joker, that you are. Fine, then. Tell me about your ex-boyfriends."

Rhys looks away again. This feels more... intimate, somehow. "Alright. In high school I went out with a guy named Daniel. He was cute, but it was high school, so."

"Don't worry, sweetcheeks, not even I had dramatic break-ups in high school," Jack assures. Is he going to share a story of his own? When he doesn't, Rhys lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

It takes him a moment, but Rhys soon realizes Jack's silence means for him to continue. "Then, after- After Stacey, I got asked out by Victor. He'd, uh, he'd actually been there. When I broke up with her. Applauded and everything. He was real sweet. We were together until we graduated."

"Aw. That's... actually romantic. How cute. I mean, kinda gross, but cute."

Rhys doesn't really know how to respond to that, so he just sighs. Again. "Well, I got my internship as soon as I graduated, and we figured we didn't wanna do the whole long-distance thing, so we agreed to end it for the time being."

"Your internship?"

"Yeah," Rhys confirms. "At Hyperion."

"You broke up with your boyfriend to work at my company?" Jack almost sounds smug.

"It wasn't yours at the time. And it wasn't like that. I just... wanted the internship." He takes in the sight of Pandora in the faint, purple moonlight. "And look where that got me, huh?"

"Would you do it again? If you knew what you know now?" Rhys imagines the words are spoken with a tentativeness, of a sort.

Would he, though? He can't know for sure what kind of future he would have had with Victor. Hell, they probably wouldn't have stayed together until now anyway. It might have been a peaceful future, though. Free of the backstabbing environment at the heart of Hyperion. But there are a lot of things Rhys wouldn't have gotten to do if he hadn't started working for Hyperion too. If he hadn't gone to Helios. He and Vaughn probably would have fallen out, for starters. And he never would have injected a certain AI into his head. He looks at the AI in question, a smile playing on the corner of his lips. "Yeah. I think I would've."

"Good," Jack states, looking straight ahead. "Would've hated to still be stuck in that ID drive. Or worse, in the head of some other lowly idiot with a head port." Jack turns to him then, eyes widening a bit. "Not that you're a lowly idiot. Just, y'know. That's where I could have been. But I got lucky, didn't I?"

The compliment feels kind of backhanded, but Rhys smiles anyway. "Guess you did."

"So. That all of them?"

"What? Oh. Yeah. Well, kind of? There was Garrett, but we never really dated." Rhys met him when he first got to Helios, shortly after Jack took over Hyperion. "We went out a few times, and I mean, things were going pretty well. And then I brought him back to my place for the first time and he kind of freaked out. Next time we talked he told me it had been nice, but that he wasn't really ready. 'It's not you, it's me' and all that." Rhys decided not to dwell on it. Garrett ditched him, but Rhys hadn't gotten attached enough to be really hurt. Honestly? Most of all, he got a bit annoyed.

"What the hell did you have back at your place that made him freak out?" Jack's voice lowers to a conspiratory whisper. "Your murder victims?"

"What!? No!" Rhys' bedroom had been perfectly normal, as a matter of fact. A little messy, sure, but it had some plants, a nice holo-window, plenty of Hyperion-issued posters of- Posters of Handsome Jack. Shit.

"Woah, you went a little pale there, pumpkin. Did you have murder victims in there? 'Cause then I'd almost be impressed," Jack teases. Rhys barely hears him. His slight celebrity crush on Jack back in the day cost him a potential boyfriend. Now that is an awkward realization.

"Of course I didn't," he answers, definitely not looking at Jack and silently begging him not to press the subject.

Jack sighs. "I've had a few of those, y'know."

"Murder victims?"

"No. Well, _yeah_ , but that's not what I meant. I meant people that I almost-but-never-really dated."

"Yeah?" Rhys asks, hardly believing that Jack might actually share something personal. Although the attention has been on Rhys for so long that it's only natural Jack wants to bring it back to himself by now.

"Yeah. In college, mostly. It always kinda ended when they found out I had a-" Jack goes quiet, and Rhys wants to push but worries that if he does, Jack will close himself off forever. Next to him, Jack takes a deep breath. It's funny, Rhys thinks. He doesn't even need the air. "When they found out about Angel."

Rhys turns to look at him. "Angel?"

A small, sad smile finds its way to Jack's lips. "Yeah. My daughter."

Handsome Jack has a daughter. Holy shit. Rhys tries not to let his surprise show on his face, or not to let anything show on his face, for that matter. How did he not know about this? He's focusing his best on not accidentally logging the new information in his virtual brain, figuring it's for the best if Jack can't know how important he finds it. He eventually figures he should say something.

"I... I didn't know you had a daughter." Well done, Rhys, real smooth.

Jack shrugs. "Most people don't, these days. Always figured she'd be safer if people didn't know 'bout her."

"So... How come you're telling me?" Rhys wonders, while asking himself if this means Jack thinks he's special.

Jack gives him a smile that for the first time seems genuine, without selfish or malicious undertones. It pulls at the corner of his lips and makes his eyes soften. It's a damn good look on him, and Rhys is reminded of just why he got that celebrity crush in the first place. He's happy he's sitting down already, because his knees feel weak. "I don't know, Rhys. Guess I kinda trust you."

Rhys practically _melts_.

He can feel his cheeks heating up and looks away. "Well. I guess I kinda trust you too," he replies. He did tell him about Stacey, after all. (Rhys probably would have told Jack anything he asked, if he smiled at him like that, but that was for him to know.)  
"Anyway," Jack sighs and turns his gaze away, and Rhys can tell it's hard for him to get the words out, "Angel isn't really in the picture anymore."

"What happened?" he asks.

Jack's virtual body goes tense. "Bandits. Crazy, evil, murderous, lunatic, vault hunting, evil fucking BANDITS!" Jack's voice grows in volume until his screaming out the last word. Jack screaming isn't unusual, anyone who ever met him can confirm that. But this isn't the usual screaming prompted by anger or annoyance. This... is grief.

Behind his back, Rhys feels his right has clenched into a fist, without his permission. He glances at Jack's hand and finds them balled up the same way. It's a strange impulse, but with what movement he has, he covers his right hand with his left. "Hey. I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure she was a great kid."

To his surprise, his metal hand unclenches and laces its fingers with the ones on his flesh hand. "Thanks, Rhysie. I think she'd have liked you, y'know." It's the kindest thing he's ever heard Jack say, and that in combination with whatever is going on with his - their? - hands makes Rhys wonder if he's dreaming. He's pretty sure he has dreamt something like this, actually.

"Anyway. Where was I, cupcake?" Jacks sounds tired, and looks it too. Rhys wonders if he should maybe let this whole thing go, but then Jacks-slash-his thumb casually strokes over his knuckles. It's all the courage Rhys needs.  
"Uh, college?" he offers. "And idiots who found out about Angel."

"Right." Jack leans his head back again, looking up at the night sky. "A few people thought she was cute, but most of 'em just figured I'd lied to them to get into their pants or something. Which is ridiculous. I don't need to lie to get into someone's pants, I mean, have you met me?" He chuckles a little to himself. "I'd have killed 'em for it. But believe it or not, I wasn't always such a badass, so I kind of just kicked 'em out. I mean, I did kill them later, since it wouldn't do if a bunch of people from college decided to go and blabber about Handsome Jack's kid. As a CEO you don't want people knowing too much about you, Rhysie, remember that. But yeah. College wasn't really... Well, you get it."

Jack usually doesn't need to be told to talk, but this doesn't feel like usual circumstances. So Rhys figures he could use a bit of a nudge. "What about after college?"

"Wow, aren't you desperate, princess?" Jack asks, but to Rhys' surprise it sounds more fond than teasing. The tone is enough to keep him from replying. "I'm gettin' there, sheesh. Gonna keep it brief though. My list's a bit longer than yours." Jack winks at him, and Rhys can't keep the blush from his cheeks. Jack must notice, judging by his soft chuckle. "I've been married a few times," he admits. "Was married to Moxxi once, if you can believe it."

Rhys wonders if that's supposed to tell him something.

"Moxxi's pizza?" Jack asks. "Moxxi's bars? You've never-? Well, you're not really missing out on anything. Just Pandoran crap, really." He makes a face, then shrugs. "Anyway. Like I said. Been married a few times, dated some people. Had a lot of sex." He winks at Rhys again. What is he even getting at? "But I gotta say, it's been a while since I did the whole relationship thing. Between running Hyperion and going after the Vault… I didn't really have a whole lotta spare time. I mean, I had _some_ time, sure. But, you know."

"Well, you've certainly been busy," Rhys says after a moment of silence. He feels… Not inadequate, but there's something. Jack has done so much more than him, in every way. It's been a while since his main focus was following in Jack's footsteps, but it's kind of weird to be reminded of the fact that he was never even close to doing so, even in such an irrelevant area as this.

To Rhys' embarrassment, Jack seems to sense that something's wrong. "Sure, I've been with a lot of people," he says. "But I don't know, Rhysie, seems like what you had was pretty rewarding too. I mean, how long were you together with… what's his name… Victor?"

Rhys shrugs, looking at nothing in particular. "Three years?" In the distance, he thinks he sees a few skags fighting each other.

"Three? I haven't had a relationship that long since- Since Angel was little."

"That was in college, Jack. Pretty long ago for me too."

"Yeah, well… I'm older than you." The way he says it seems kind of childish, which doesn't really help prove his point.

"You've been married. That must have meant something. Been pretty serious, at least." Rhys shrugs.

Jack waves a hand in front of him. "Nah. You know how it is with women, cupcake. You fall hard, you fall fast, and then it's over just as quick as it begun."

Rhys frowns. "That's what it's like for you?" He would be lying if he said he has never wondered how Jack's heart works. (Seriously, there were plenty of moments back on Helios when he fantasised about Handsome Jack seeing him in the crowd, his heart skipping, and he'd fall in love with Rhys. He has never told another soul about it and he never will.) But this seems… almost sad.

"Well, yeah?" Jack says, as if he can't imagine it being any other way. Without warning, Rhys feels the control of his cybernetic arm returning. Jack has both his arms crossed over his chest again. He feels kind of cold. "I mean, it's different with guys. You should know. I mean, because of Victor and all that."

"Different how?"

"Just- Just different. It's slower. It's not 'Shit, he's cute, I wanna marry him,' it's more like it takes a while and builds up and shit, and then after a while you realize you like him. And it lasts longer too. I mean, you don't just wake up one day feeling tired of him and wanting to leave."

Rhys probably should have been able to read between the lines earlier, but it's only now as Jack is speaking that he realises Jack has dated guys too. Anyone on Helios could have told you that Jack didn't care about the gender of the people he flirted with, but Rhys had eventually come to accept the fact that it was only about sex for Jack. The leader of Hyperion simply didn't date. (Not that that stopped Rhys from using his imagination. But again, he will never tell anyone about that.)

"What?" Jack mutters when Rhys doesn't say anything.

"I dunno. I guess it's not much of a difference for me."

Jack narrows his eyes and shakes his head. "You're really weird, kiddo, anyone ever tell you that?"

"A few times, yeah." Rhys is beginning to feel like this moment, whatever it was, is starting to fade. Well, he supposes it couldn't have lasted forever.

Jack shakes his head. "God, I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you. It's pretty messed up, you know that, right? And I guess it goes without saying that I'm gonna kill you if you ever speak to anyone about it."

"Of course," Rhys nods. It's an empty threat and they both know it.

"You know, as weird as you are, you're really friggin' lucky you're pretty," Jack points out, not looking at Rhys. "I mean, at least you got that goin' for ya."

Rhys snorts, forcing himself to not think about Handsome Jack calling him pretty. "Well, as much of an asshole as you are, you're lucky you're not ugly too."

Jack laughs, but it's not taunting, for once. "Anyway, pumpkin, moment's over," he says. "I'll go hang out with your dirty little secrets again. See ya." He taps his own temple before the hologram disappears.

"Well," Rhys says to himself, "That was… weird." Yet, he feels like something has shifted, even though he can't really put a finger on what it is. It's nice though, and he feels surprisingly good, considering he's got a literal face in his pocket and that they're about to sneak into the most dangerous corporation in the galaxy. But, he supposes, things could have been worse.


End file.
